Sunday, February 15, 2015

View-halloo! Did you get yesterday's clue? This week's What Am I Reading entry is both a review and a giveaway! Somehow, in my quest for MG Brit Lit, I stumbled upon Robin Stevens over at twitter.com/redbreastedbird . Her first book is for the MG Agatha Christie-fan set {even if they aren't aware of it yet} and introduces us to Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong, two boarding school pals at Deepdean School, who stumble upon muuuurrrrrrrr-daaaahhhhh... This book is very much a period piece, taking place in 1934, and it includes all those delicious things mystery-lovers love, like maps, and red herrings, and lists of characters. The book, over on Robin's side of the pond is titled Murder Most Unladylike, but will arrive on these shores under the alibi Murder is Bad Manners. Since I've only read the British edition, I cannot speak as to how many changes there will be {if any} between the two editions {other than the title and cover art, of course} but I am super excited for this series to make landfall here.

The first in the series - U.K. edition.

U.S. version coming soon to a bookstore near you. :: taps foot impatiently ::

Not willing to wait for Murder is Bad Manners to wash ashore {okay, okay, I'll stop with the nautical references}, I pre-ordered Robin's second book in the series: Arsenic for Tea which takes place a Daisy Wells' home {in the country, so is it an English country home? Or just a home?} whilst the two friends are on hols. {And yes, it does include the phrase view-halloo!}

And here is where things went wrong. For me. But not for you. Every time I saw mention of Arsenic for Tea on Twitter, I'd head over to bookdepository.com {not compensated for their mention} and pre-ordered it. And pre-ordered it! And, wait...did I pre-order this book already? So when my two copies of Arsenic for Tea arrived in quick succession, I thought of you, you, YOU dear readers. One of you will receive that second copy. This give-away is only open to U.S. readers and I'll tell you why...because it will not be readily available stateside for eons and I need to spread the love imbeds.

My memory loss is your gain: the giveaway book in question. Book two in the series; U.K. edition

Now I'm going to pretend that I am like the awesome Mr. Schu and have a giveaway. Commence giveaway.

Whether you agree or not with the idea of fox hunting, this week's Sunday Expression is view-halloo! This is a fox-hunting term that is used when the fox "breaks cover" and is sighted during the hunt. If fox hunting is not your sport, you can still use this expression when you've discovered something important. For example, an important clue...in a murder investigation...in a English country home...

Which all leads me to tomorrow's book review AND giveaway! What? View-halloo and stay tuned!